Several types of heat-insulating containers have been used commercially to pack hot liquids. A polystyrene foam heat-insulating container is one example. It is prepared by casting unfoamed polystyrene into a mold, heating the resin under pressure to foam it, and removing the foamed resin from the mold. Alternatively, a foamed styrene sheet may be shaped into a container. An initial drawback of these types of containers is that their insulating characteristics are so efficient that the consumer can be lulled into a false sense of security because the outside of the cup is not hot while the temperature of the contents remain scalding. The container thus produced has outstanding heat-insulating properties but, on the other hand, it needs reconsideration from the viewpoint of saving petroleum resources or increasing the efficiency of incinerating waste containers. As a further problem, a slow, inefficient and high waste printing process is required to print on the outer surfaces of polystyrene foam heat-insulating containers since printing can only be effected after individual cups have been shaped. Further, the tapered surface of the container contributes to print blur at positions near the top and bottom of the container unless specialized and expensive printing technology is employed. As a further disadvantage, the outer surface of the foamed styrene heat-insulating container is often not sufficiently smooth to accept high resolution screen printing further affecting printability. Thus, the polystyrene foam containers suffer the disadvantage of low printability.
The conventional paper heat-insulating container can not be manufactured at low cost, and one reason is the complexity of the manufacturing process. One example is a container wherein the side wall of the body member is surrounded by a corrugated heat-insulating jacket. The process of manufacturing such containers involves additional steps of forming the corrugated jacket and bonding it to the outer surface of the side wall of the body member. One defect of this type of container is that letters, figures or other symbols are printed on the corrugated surface and the resulting deformed letters or patterns do not have aesthetic appeal to consumers. Another defect is that the jacket is bonded to the side wall of the body member in such a manner that only the valley ridges contact the side wall, and the bond between the jacket and the side wall is so weak that the two can easily separate. Often times, corrugated containers are not suitable for stacking and thus require large storage space.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,344 issued to Iioka teaches a heat-insulating paper container consisting of a body member and a bottom panel member, characterized in that at least one surface of the body member is coated or laminated with a foamed heat-insulating layer of a thermoplastic synthetic resin film whereas the other surface of the body member is coated or laminated with a thermoplastic synthetic resin film, a foamed heat-insulating layer of thermoplastic synthetic resin film or an aluminum foil. When manufacturing such a container, the water in the paper is vaporized upon heating, causing the thermoplastic synthetic resin film on the surface to foam. The container under consideration has the advantage that it exhibits fairly good heat-insulating properties and that it can be manufactured at low cost by a simple process. However, the thermoplastic synthetic resin film will not foam adequately if the water content in the paper is low. While high water content is advantageous for the purpose of film foaming, the mechanical strength of the container may deteriorate. Moreover, even if successful foaming is done, the thickness of the foam layer is uniform and cannot be controlled from one portion of the container to another. Further, the foam layer reaches an expansion limit regardless of the moisture content of the base layer.
In an effort to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,631 issued to Iioka discloses a heat-insulating paper container including a body wherein part of the outer surface of the body members provided with a printing of an organic solvent based ink. The body portion is subsequently coated with a thermoplastic synthetic resin film which when heated forms a thick foamed heat-insulating layer in the printed area of the outer surface whereas a less thick foamed heat-insulating layer is formed in the non-printed areas. Further, there are portions of the outer surface which remain unfoamed. In manufacturing a container in this manner, the printing is carried out on the paperboard layer and consequently viewing of the printed matter by the consumer is obstructed by the foamed insulating layer. Moreover, because the foamed layer overlying the printed areas are thicker than the remaining portions of the foamed layers, these areas will be even more obstructed. Consequently, this container suffers from similar drawbacks as those containers discussed hereinabove.
Another type of paper heat-insulating container has a "dual" structure wherein an inner cup is given a different taper than an outer cup to form a heat-insulating air layer. The two cups are made integral by curling their respective upper portions into a rim. The side wall of the outer cup is flat and has high printability, however, the two cups may easily separate. Another disadvantage is that the dual structure increases the manufacturing cost and thus the unit cost of the container. Moreover, the dual cup construction increases the stacking height of the cups and consequently increases packaging and shipping costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for insulated stock material and containers wherein the stock material can be manufactured in an economical manner such that the resultant containers formed from the insulating stock material provide the requisite insulating properties while readily receiving printed matter on the outer surface of the material.